Posts Tagged ‘food’
Friday Fatchecker: Overcoming Lethargy
Posted on: 13/05/2011
It’s been a while since I’ve had the Friday Fatchecker out, but for the last fortnight I’ve been keeping a food diary and trying to eat more healthily.
I think it’s working, but I haven’t had the scales handy (long story, involving sunday school and middle child’s wet pants) to check both how much cheese weight I put on whilst in France, and how much since then I might have lost. They’re back at home now, so hopefully I’ll grab a moment soon to do that.
Eating more healthily has been working well. I saw a video about nutrition and they showed this plate.
That’s one quarter meat, one quarter starch and one half veg. The same vid also talked about never going more than 4 hours without food, and so if there’s no meal coming along in that amount of time, I’ve also been using Graze for nibbles that actually sustain me. (If you want a free box, let me know and I’ll get you a code). After adjusting my shopping trolley to accommodate the extra veg and a decent breakfast (2 rashers bacon, loads of tomatoes and a slice of toast), it’s been working well. I haven’t overindulged in chocolate or any other junk food, and I haven’t missed it.
However, I’ve not had much decent exercise since before the Easter holidays. It’s always tricky in the school holidays, especially if you’re staying with friends or relatives. Since then I’ve been knuckling down with studies, so it’s taken a back seat.
Anyway, back to the lethargy thing. What I said last time about having something paid for to have to go to, hasn’t progressed. My plan to do some Zumba has not materialised, namely because I’ve had no reply to my email and I’ve forgotten about it.
Time I chased it up, really. I don’t know why I’m averse to just ringing people, but somehow when I’m feeling lethargic, typing is about the only thing I still feel happy doing. Talking to people means I have to switch on properly, which requires energy. And of course, it’s a vicious circle; the less exercise I do, the less energy I have.
Hmm. Clearly I need to deal with this.
So, there being no time like the present, and the Zumba website being down, I’ve found a different dance fitness class and have just fired off a registration request. Hopefully this one will work out, and in the meantime, at least I’ve managed to get the food sussed for the time being. I’ll keep you posted…
Savour the flavour
Posted on: 03/04/2011
I have just had the pleasure of eating a truly delicious meal at the Hind’s Head in Bray.
Raw venison carpaccio? Exquisite. Pork belly with butternut squash, spinach and white pudding? Heavenly. Even the cheese was incredible.
What made it the perfect evening, though, was spending it with my most loved one.
We don’t get many opportunities to simply enjoy one another’s company, so on this anniversary celebration it was a rare and joyful treat to be able to relax in each other’s company.
Conversation invariably included discussions about the latest house we’d seen, but also the wonders of the universe, silly riddles and the latest development in loved one’s job.
Good food, good conversation, good company. A perfect evening.
I feel privileged. And loved.
Food and families
Posted on: 09/02/2011
- In: Family life
- 1 Comment
When you have a family, you tend to be caught in an interesting conflict.
All of a sudden it really matters that you don’t just eat ready meals or takeaway every night. Your child can’t take the salt and fat levels, and you can’t take the financial hit.
The only problem is, the same reason you need to eat real food for once is the same reason you don’t have time or energy to plan or to cook it.
I’ve been trying to solve this problem in various ways, and looking to different sources for inspiration. First of all I tried ‘Saving Dinner‘, which literally gives you half a year’s worth of different recipes, all of which are very nice, with weekly shopping lists. I’d recommend the book for anyone who is (a) US based and (b) able to spend a good hour, five nights a week, cooking the dinner.
Yes, unfortunately US recipe books don’t translate so well. After spending a while on the internet working out what on earth ‘cilantro’ (replace with other mystery ingredient as appropriate) is, you then have to source stuff that you can’t find in the supermarkets over here. And once I’d solved those problems, the kids struggled to cope with such intense variety. So I’ve re-shelved that for now.
Anyhow, soon after that I caught an interview on Woman’s Hour with Gill Holcombe, author of ‘How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time, Even If You Have a Tiny Kitchen, Only Three Saucepans (one with an ill-fitting lid) and no fancy gadgets – unless you count the garlic crusher‘. Who should win an award, if only for the book title. And her book also has weekly shopping lists. The food tends only to take twenty to thirty minutes to cook, and the kids like the food. Result.
She even wrote a new book last year with more recipes. I’m trying that now.
But I’m easily bored with the food thing. So I’m also looking at ‘Frozen Assets‘ by Deborah Taylor-Hough (of The Simple Mom blog). I haven’t bought it yet, but I’m just starting to look at her blog. (I’m still going to have to get past the US/UK translation, but I love the idea of cooking only one day a month.
I’ll keep you posted on how I go with it. Any of you got any food heroes? Better still, a UK version of ‘Frozen Assets’? Let me know…
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